Category: Business and the Arts

I followed with interest the blogging of Jane Fonda earlier this year. She was rehearsing and appearing in 33 Variations on Broadway at the time. She wrote a post To Read or Not to Read – the reviews, that is – and it emerged that she was advised be her friend, fellow actor Christine Lahti not to read them, at least until after the season was over. The post and the comments make for good reading – as does the whole blog of the process. She wrote

This will be hard for me. My curiousity may get the better of me. Yet I can imagine that if a reviewer really likes or really hates something I do, it has the potential to change my performance a little. Something to think about between now and a week from now. I’ll let you know what I decide…maybe.

She turned out to be as good as her word, and read them when the show closed.

I thought it was time to see what the general consensus is, so here’s a poll which we’ll keep open for a couple of weeks. Have your say!

This post was contributed by Xanthe Coward, a COE09 conference delegate. Many thanks also to Xanthe for her live-tweeting during the sessions. You can catchup with all the hashtagged contributions to the Twitter stream by searching for #coe09

Why are doing a theatre conference? Why are you doing theatre? Do you want to be in Cats or something?!

Last weekend Brisbane’s !Metro Arts played host to 100 independent theatre practitioners, including professional and emerging playwrights, performers, directors, producers and promoters from all over Australia. In what turned out to be a particularly conversational 3 day program!Metro Arts, in cooperation with Jute and Playlab, set about challenging the definition of what it is to be an artist in the independent theatre sector in Australia, and asked, “How will it – and you – survive?” The question in the block-quote above was put to one of the delegates by a friend, and it seems to sum up the attitude of many of the broader population who aren’t aware of theatre – apart from the blockbuster musical – or who don’t really understand how and where else this thing called theatre gets made. Last weekend, however, pedestrians on Brisbane city’s Edward Street, as well as visitors to New Farm’s Powerhouse might have noticed that theatre is something that attracts an extremely eclectic crowd. Continue reading Theatre conference? You want to be in Cats or something?

For the next few days, from Friday 23 through Sunday 25th October to be exact, Jute Theatre from Cairns are getting together with !Metro Arts and Playlab Press in Brisbane for At the Centre of the Edge, a conference for independent theatre makers from around Australia. You can read more about it here. Now we know there were limited places … 100 as it happens … so more missed out than got in, we’d reckon. Pity that …

Here’s the good news though … you can keep up with what’s happening via Greenroom’s guest poster for the event – Xanthe Coward from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. You’ll be able to read Xanthe’s reports from the conference right here on Greenroom, then if you like, you can add to the discussion with a comment. If Greenroom noses out any other blogs covering At the Centre of the Edge, we’ll post the links here, as well as RT any tweets that are covering the big issues for the conference. Those of you who are on Twitter will know that ‘RT’ means ‘re-tweet.’

And speaking of Twitter, Xanthe is going to live-tweet the Saturday discussion sessions Adapt or Die from 9.30am through to 1pm. If you don’t already, follow her @xsentertainment so you don’t miss a chirp or shout. Along with many others, Greenroom will be following Xanthe’s tweets. We’ll probably also RT some of the more interesting comments. It will help if everyone sending a tweet puts the hashtag #coe09 somewhere in the post to make searching and archiving easy.

Meanwhile, we’re delighted that Xanthe will be bringing us the conference news, and wish everyone a terrific time. The weather’s going to be fine … there are lots of shows on to see … check out This Week in Queensland Theatre. We’d say we’re in for what’s probably going to be a perfect few days in southern Queensland.

I was delighted to speak with David – Dave to his friends – Burton late last week about his playwrighting, and especially his latest work Lazarus Won’t Get Out of Bed. I can tell from the outset that he is upbeat – excited even. It was a good opening night the preceding evening – the buzz is good he tells me. But as we talk I can see that he’s just as excited by the opportunities that are out there for a young playwright. “I can’t keep up; anyone who says there aren’t enough creative development opportunities or support programs for young writers is not trying hard enough, or not looking in the right places.” We go on to speak a lot about support during the course of our conversation; it becomes a theme almost. Continue reading Out of bed and on the job: David Burton (Interview 2)